How Fonts and Colors Influence Customers Buying Decisions

Do you want to find out how Big Box Retailers influence customers buying decisions using the right fonts and colors on product label design? Keep Reading.

Photo by Erik Mclean

A key part of consumer behavior is understanding how and why people select and use one product or service over another.

As you can imagine, the findings are usually related to their psychology, motivations, and buying impulses.

As companies strive to innovate their products to outmaneuver their competition, packaging design becomes increasingly important as it provides another way to capture the attention of the consumer.

According to a recent study, “the package becomes an ultimate selling proposition stimulating impulsive buying behavior, increasing market share and reducing promotional costs,” thus highlighting the significance well thought out packaging can have on a company’s revenue.

Product Label Design 101: Importance of Font and Colors to Influence Customer Buying Decisions

The font and color of a product label highly impact a brand’s identity. Choosing fonts and colors should be a carefully curated process, as these elements distinguish your product from competing entities and make your brand memorable in the public’s consciousness. 

No wonder, companies are willing to go all out by enlisting the help of professionals specializing in product label design. Indeed, this aspect of branding has great significance in marketing your product. Labels are essential in creating a good first impression among consumers by visually connecting with them while educating them about the product.

By understanding the integral role that fonts and colors play in labeling and packaging, you may be well on your way to establishing strong consumer connections and positively affecting your business’ bottom line. 

Read on to know the importance of colors and fonts and their impact on consumer behavior, including their buying habits.

Font Psychology in Product Labels

Fonts have a psychological effect on consumers as they generate emotions based on the letter shapes and people’s psychological responses to those shapes. When choosing fonts for your business, you must consider whether the font’s personality mirrors your brand image.

Fonts like Sans or Sans Serif are designed to make it easier for consumers to read words off a label, making these font types a good fit for different businesses. Besides making sure your font choice suits your company, you must also align your decision with what consumers expect when they encounter your brand.

According to a study conducted by the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL), traditional fonts like Arial or Times New Roman are easy to read, stable, and mature. However, the study also found the fonts to be unimaginative and conformist. On the other hand, Verdana emerged as the most favored font because of its legibility and other user-friendly attributes.

Besides a clean and traditional look, fonts for your business must reinforce your company’s message as a trustworthy and credible partner. However, if you operate casual entities like coffee shops, you should stay away from overly rigid and hyper-clean fonts. Instead, you want to opt for fonts that promote a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for this particular type of business.

Additionally, you need to ensure that your font is readable. Surprisingly, many businesses fail to notice how unreadable product label fonts can drive consumers away without purchasing their product.

Color Psychology in Product Labels

Colors are strongly associated with emotions that affect the human psyche. As such, colors in a product label’s logo design have the power to cultivate emotional triggers among shoppers or buyers. While debates abound as to whether color interpretations are hardwired in people’s minds or are influenced by culture, or both, there is a widely accepted language of color.

So, even though color perception and what they symbolize are subjective, there are essential qualities product labelers can apply. Here are some examples of what specific colors mean or represent.

Red

Red is linked with the heat of love, passion, and energy. Some may say they “see red” when they’re feeling angry. Additionally, power, blood, and danger are associated with this color, making it a powerful tool in branding or communication. For example, fire trucks, ambulances, and traffic light systems utilize bold red to call people’s attention.

A prime example of a business utilizing red in its branding is the fast-food conglomerate McDonald’s. Here, red seems to effectively stimulate diners’ appetite.

Yellow

Yellow is the color of smiley faces, sunflowers, and the sun. It is deemed a youthful and happy color that evokes feelings of positivity and hope. At the same time, yellow is an attention-grabbing color that can signify caution, much like red and orange.

The well-known “golden arches” of McDonald’s heavily incorporate yellow and are one of the most easily recognizable symbols in the fast-food industry.

Blue

Blue is calm and serene, representing responsibility and intelligence. Dubbed the most popular color globally, blue is heavily incorporated in business logos as it evokes emotions of trust. As such, it’s typical for blue to be the top color of choice when designing corporate logos.

Facebook CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is colorblind to red and green, chose the color blue as it is the most vivid color he can see. Aside from Zuckerberg’s condition, blue’s association with emotions like dependability and trust fits the context of a social networking website.

Green

Green is often associated with nature due to the colors of trees and plants. This color also represents renewal and growth typically observed in spring. 

Next in importance to the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue, green is commonly incorporated in company designs just like what you can find in Google’s and Microsoft’s logos. Green brings visual balance, resulting in a calming and soothing influence.

Orange

Orange is a vibrant color that evokes thoughts of vitality and health. It combines the playfulness of yellow with the heat of red, attracting attention without being overbearing. Children’s network Nickelodeon has utilized orange for decades for its vibrancy. Similarly, energy drink Gatorade uses an orange lightning bolt symbol to promote activity and energy.

Purple

Purple is both cool and warm, combining the energy of red with the serenity of blue. Purple is often associated with royalty, being inherently luxurious and prestigious. Companies that utilize the warm and cool combination of purple are Yahoo and British luxury company Asprey.

PRO-TIP:

If you’re selling online, there are many factors that Influence Customers Buying Decisions. You’re going to want to know what those are. The post below covers the 6 most common things that affect your customers’ decision to buy:

More Than Colors and Letters

Understanding your brand and its vision is crucial in designing an influential product label. While picking the brightest colors and boldest letters could turn some heads, it does not guarantee patronage from consumers. 

From soap labels to cereal boxes, colors and fonts must be on-point. While some view these aspects of product labeling as arbitrary, the truth of the matter is that everything placed on labels serves a purpose. 

So, the next time your business is contemplating a combination of fonts and colors for your product labels, you may want to refer back to this article. Remember, your product label is often the first point of contact to Influence Customers Buying Decisions.

For more insight on how to successfully position your product in the retail environment check out this post;